Want your boy to be mad, bad and dangerous to know?  Give this poetic appellation to your son.

Thanks to Photoquilty for suggesting Byron as Name of the Day.

There’s noting particularly romantic about Byron’s meaning.  It’s one of those Old English place names, still on the map as Byram and Byrom – both of which reference cow sheds.

But then there’s Lord Byron, born George Gordon Byron, one of the most enduring of all English poets and a leading figure in eighteenth century Romanticism.  He penned his take on the Don Juan legend in 1821; he lived it for years before.

George became the 6th Baron Byron at the tender age of ten.  He inherited the title from his uncle.  George’s dad was nicknamed “Mad Jack” while his grandpa answered to “Foulweather Jack.”  And the 5th Baron Byron had been known as “The Wicked Lord” ever since an infamous duel in his youth.

You get the sense that the family didn’t produce a lot of accountants.

George could even trace his tree back to King James I on his mother’s side, but noble birth doesn’t necessarily equal upstanding behavior.  Among his scandalous liaisons was a long-standing affair with Lady Caroline Lamb – she’s credited with coining the “Mad, Bad and Dangerous” epithet.

A true risk-taker, Lord Byron fought in foreign wars, including the Greek War of Independence.  He died of a fever while in Greece.  The Greek people embraced his sacrifice, and the given name Vyron was sometimes bestowed in his honor.

It’s also a surname, but unlike many last names recently promoted to the first spot, Byron has been in steady use for decades.  Some were doubtless inspired by poet, just like the parents of so many boys called Virgil and Homer.  Others may simply have liked Byron’s aristocratic feel, or used a family surname.  (Though it is also worth noting that, titled Englishmen aside, other Byrons probably tended cows, and wore it as an occupational surname – think Tanner.)

His use was fairly steady through the 20th century, including:

• Comedian Byron Allen;
• The NFL’s Byron Leftwich;
• Senator Byron Dorgan from North Dakota;
• Director Byron Haskin, remember for 1953′s The War of the Worlds;
• Former Supreme Court Justice Byron White.

While Byron might sound like a successor to the fading Brian, Byron himself is losing steam.  He peaked in 1967 at #196, but had regularly appeared in the 200s.  He stands at a distant #451 today.

His 1960s popularity could be linked to the 1957 novel and 1959 Sandra Dee flick Gidget.  Amongst the Malibu surfers in Gidget’s circle were boys nicknamed Stinky, Kahuna, Moondoggie – and Lord Byron.

Even though he’s not fashionable today, Byron remains perfectly wearable.  Lost’s Matthew Fox bestowed Byron on his son back in 2001.  (He also has a daughter named Kyle.)  

Byron would fit with Kai and Brycen.  It’s not a truly original choice, but might prove a satisfying one – perfectly familiar, yet relatively underused.